Deecy vs Flycast

Deecy is an experimental, open-source Dreamcast emulator written in Zig for Windows and Linux. Its command-line interface loads .gdi, .cdi and .chd disc files, but setup requires users to provide BIOS and flash dumps named dc_boot.bin and dc_flash.bin in the data folder, then choose the directory containing disc images. Deecy should detect and map controllers automatically; users can also assign guest ports manually and customize keyboard bindings. Keyboard shortcuts provide four save-state slots and four matching load-state slots. The emulator supports fullscreen toggling and an unlimited emulation-speed mode. On Linux, the --scif option pipes a serial port to /tmp/deecy/scif for dcload-serial prototyping. DreamPicoPort support is available as an optional build dependency and can be disabled at build time. The project maintains a compatibility list and directs bug reports to its GitHub issue tracker, though issue creation is restricted. The project lists unfinished areas including AICA filtering, framebuffer handling, exclusion modifier volumes and renderer features. The main project is MIT licensed, with MAME data under BSD-3-Clause and CHD features based on MAME code. Unstable builds are available for Windows and Linux.

Flycast is a free emulator for Sega Dreamcast, Naomi, Naomi 2, and Atomiswave, derived from reicast. It runs on Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows, with releases available as stable tagged versions, master builds, and experimental nightly builds. Android users are directed to Google Play; Linux instructions cover Flatpak and Flathub, while macOS instructions use Homebrew. Windows documentation provides a bootstrap script for building from source. Xbox One and Series users can install a build through Xbox Device Portal. Flycast supports online play, with release notes describing modem-emulation improvements and fixes for online features in several games. Its DCNet service is a free dedicated VPN for Dreamcast games; 30 game servers were available when it was released. Physical Dreamcast controllers work with DreamConn+ and DreamPicoPort adapters. On Android, Google Auto Backup can back up VMU saves and non-volatile memory. The project lists GPL-2.0 as its license and says iOS support has been dropped.